When Laura Zeng gets ready to compete, the
“small-yet-terrible” American gymnast takes it very seriously. As she
approaches the stage, her eyes stern and lips pursed and she walks with full
confidence and swag. Then, she lifts up her right hand to salute the judges and
the audience as she takes her position on the carpet.
After that, she starts to widen her eyes and display the
beauty of her smile, revealing the energy and excitement of all her performances,
from a smooth and flawless performance with the hoops to a lively samba with
the clubs.
Zeng is currently acknowledged as the best American rhythmic
gymnast, with a lot of remarkable achievements at the young age of 16. Zeng
secured the eight spot in the all-around event finals of the 2015 World
Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships last September, the best all-around finish
for an American gymnast. Her historic world all-around finish earned her
country a spot in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
The USA rhythmic gymnastics team also secured an Olympic
spot and will be the first American rhythmic team to make it to the Olympics. Zeng and her other teammates trains at North
Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center in Deerfield.
The administrators of the USA gymnastics hope that the
successes attained by Laura Zeng and the American gymnastics team in the recently
held World Championships is the start of USA’s dominance in a sport long dominated
by Eastern European gymnasts. During her training, Zeng said that to think that
she had really earned a spot in the Olympics was “overwhelming”.
"I knew I had all these opportunities at this
competition to reach those goals. I knew it was all on me," Zeng said.
"So to be able to not let myself down and really go for it, it made me
proud."
Artistic gymnastics is insanely famous among American
audiences, mainly because of the world-renowned figures such as Olga Korbut,
Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton. In comparison, rhythmic gymnastics barely
possesses the same popularity and is a sport that is often misunderstood.
"When you say you do rhythmic gymnastics, people block
the 'rhythmic' part," said Kris Shaldybin, 18, of Highwood, a member of
the U.S. team. "They're like, 'Oh, do you like the beam?'"
For those who don’t know:
Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport that uses hoop, ball, clubs
and ribbon as the apparatus in their routines. (The use of rope was
discontinued for seniors). The athletes earn points by combining balances,
leaps and jumps, pivot turns, dance steps and basic acrobatics while
maneuvering, tossing and catching the equipment with the different parts of
their body. Each performance can earn up to 20 points, and they are scored
based on execution and the difficulty of their routine. Rhythmic gymnastics
athletes can compete as individuals or as a group.
In a group performance, each of the five team members will
hold an apparatus, synchronize their routines and toss their apparatus with
each other. The different teams will perform two routines with varying combinations
of apparatus. During the Olympic season, groups will perform with five ribbons
in one routine, and with two hoops and six clubs in the other.
"At first glance, people just think it's twirling with
a ribbon," Zeng said. "But I don't think they understand how hard it
is to get that routine done. It takes so much work to master the equipment, to
make it a part of you, and to be able to do all those elements with musicality.
It's so many things happening at once."
Zeng was originally studying Chinese dancing, but was later
introduced to rhythmic gymnastics by her friend when she was just 7 years old.
"I was drawn to the performance aspect, as I was a
dancer and I loved performing for the audience," Zeng said. "And the
musicality and being able to express myself while also being able to do
equipment handling also really appealed to me."
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